


Ketchup

by dinosaursmate



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, No Smut, Train AU, chance encounter, next to you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-18 07:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9374147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinosaursmate/pseuds/dinosaursmate
Summary: “Harry! My name is Harry.”“You ruined the game!!!”“How could you come up with so many names beginning with H without getting Harry?”Louis shrugged, inspecting his nails. “Your name is on your shirt, you absolute wanker.”-The train journey back to London from Newcastle wasn't as dull as Harry had anticipated, thanks to his seatmate.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Lovingly betad by [Steph](http://mommotommo.tumblr.com/) and [Sus](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> This is part of a prompt challenge that a group of us are participating in for the prompt "Bloodsucker". To read the other amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, you can [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/bloodsucker/works) and to see all fics written as part of the challenge, you can [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/2017_hl_prompt_challenge/works).

It was snowing.  _ Shit. _

Anxiety started to bubble in Harry’s gut. If his train was delayed - or worse,  _ cancelled -  _ he’d never make it back to London in time for his flatmate’s birthday party and he really wouldn’t ever hear the end of it.

The train pulled into the station, which was a relief. And besides, just because it was snowing here in Newcastle didn’t mean it was snowing anywhere south of here. 

The automatic doors opened when Harry pressed the button and a  _ whoosh _ of warmth hit him, thawing his cold cheeks. He sighed in relief, climbing aboard. He found his assigned seat, pushed his duffel bag into the overhead compartment and threw himself into the window seat. Yanking his thick coat off, he placed it on the seat next to him as he opened his satchel to pull his iPad out. 

“Hi.”

Harry looked up to see a man standing over him, smiling politely. 

“Hello.”

“This is my seat,” the man said, grabbing onto a pole as the train started to move.

“Oh!” Harry quickly moved his coat. “I’m sorry.”

The stranger smiled politely, sitting down and placing his own coat on the floor, balled up between his legs. 

“Long journey, innit?” The stranger exhaled heavily with his cheeks puffed. “You going all the way?”

Harry groaned internally. He should’ve put his headphones in as soon as his cousin dropped him off at the station and then nobody would’ve spoken to him. Maybe he’d been living in London too long but he preferred peace on public transport, and he was used to getting it.

“Yep. All the way to King’s Cross.”

“Amazing, me too!”

Harry smiled, polite yet strained as he pointedly put his headphones in.

-

Harry jerked awake for the third time in the last ten minutes. He felt like he couldn’t stay awake; maybe he should get a coffee or something, but that’d require disturbing the guy next to him. Maybe he’d just wait for trolley service.

He turned his attention back to his iPad.

“Are you watching cartoons?”

Harry frowned, turning to look at the stranger next to him. He took his left ear bud out.

“It’s Count Duckula, it’s a classic.”

“A classic?” The stranger scoffed. “I’ve never heard of it.”

Harry yanked out his right earphone and turned to him indignantly.

“You’ve… never heard of Count Duckula?”

“Nope. What’s it about?”

“It’s a spin-off of Danger Mouse.”

“Really?”

“He’s a vampire duck.”

The man rolled his eyes, shaking his head impatiently.

“How can a duck be a vampire? Does he have fangs?”

“No, see…” Harry turned to the man and widened his eyes. “He’s not  _ actually _ a bloodsucker. He’s a vegetarian.”

“No offence, this cartoon sounds stupid.”

“Oi! Look, um-”

“Louis.” 

“Look, Louis. If you’ve not seen it, you can’t judge.”

“A vegetarian vampire. Who’s a  _ duck.” _

“It’s because the reincarnation ritual requires blood, see,” Harry explained. “But when they performed the ritual, they accidentally used ketchup instead of blood.”

Louis blinked at Harry as if he were an imbecile.

“Okay.”

“Consequently, he doesn’t suck blood, and he is in fact… a vegetarian.”

“This is literally the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. And I have six younger siblings. I’ve seen a lot of shit kids’ TV.”

“Look- six siblings?”

“Five sisters and a brother.” Louis shrugged. “Yeah, they’re all back in Doncaster, haven’t seen them since Christmas.”

Harry chewed on his bottom lip. It was coming towards the end of February, and he’d already been to see his mum twice since Christmas, and here he was, returning from a weekend with his cousins and Auntie. He personally couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing his family for two months. He couldn’t imagine it, especially if he’d had so many younger siblings.

“You live in London? Mind me asking what you were doing in Newcastle?” Harry asked.

“I went up to play keyboard for a mate of mine. He had a gig and his keyboardist couldn’t get off the toilet - bad curry - so I filled in.”

Harry’s eyed flitted to the screen showing their journey’s progress. The next stop was Doncaster, and he glanced sideways at Louis, who, he noticed, was also eyeing the screen.

“You really should give Count Duckula a watch,” Harry said, frantic to change the subject.

“It’s a vegetarian vampire duck.”

Harry tilted his iPad towards Louis.

“Give me, like… twenty minutes. Not exactly going anywhere, are you?”

Louis sighed aggressively before conceding. “Oh, fine!”

-

“So?” Harry asked, somewhat triumphantly.

“I mean… it was okay.”

“Okay?” Harry scoffed. “You were laughing the whole way through. You thought Nanny was hilarious.”

Louis shook his head at Harry. “I’m going for a coffee. You want anything?”

“Um… I’ll come. If that’s okay.”

“That’s fine, as long as you talk about  _ anything  _ other than vampire ducks.”

Louis promptly stood up and marched off; Harry scrambled out of his seat, gathering his valuables and jogging after him.

“There’s more to me than just ducks, you know.”

Louis looked over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, really?” He smirked.

As Louis looked away, Harry felt himself smiling. His eyes dragged down, and then up Louis’ body and he absently licked his lips, starting slightly when Louis turned all the way around to face him, walking backwards.

“Come on then, tell me something about you that isn’t about ducks.” Louis smiled. “For example, you haven’t told me your name, yet.”

“Guess.”

“Guess?!” Louis scoffed. “How am I supposed to  _ guess  _ your name?”

“Well, what name suits me?”

“Hmm.” Louis narrowed his eyes, watching Harry closely, falling into step with him and facing forwards once again. “Frank.”

Harry huffed, rolling his eyes. 

“James. Jonathan. George?” Louis pursed his lips as Harry stifled a grin. “Barry?”

“Barry?!”

“Tim. Dave. Andrew.”

“It begins with H, okay? Otherwise we’ll be here all night.”

“Harold! Henry? Hugh. Hugo?”

“Louis, really? Come on.”

“Got it! Hector.”

“You know what? I’m nameless.” Harry rolled his eyes.

“Herbert! Hank! Hawk.” Louis nodded resolutely. “It’s Hawk, isn’t it?”

“Harry! My name is Harry.”

“You ruined the game!!!”

“How could you come up with so many names beginning with H without getting Harry?”

Louis shrugged, inspecting his nails. “Your name is on your shirt, you absolute wanker.”

Complete… raving idiot. Harry loved his collection of monogrammed shirts and how could he possibly have forgotten he was wearing one?!

“Doesn’t necessarily mean my name is Harry.”

“ _ You just told me your name.” _

“Yeah, but you still assumed before I told you.”

Louis groaned loudly and Harry’s breath hitched.

They finally made it to the shop and Harry definitely needed a coffee. Now. He ordered a latte and Louis ordered tea.

“Thought you said you were getting coffee?”

“I changed my mind, is that okay with you, Hawk?”

“That’s not _ really  _ my name.” Harry told the woman behind the counter who was wearing a painted-on polite, if slightly strained, smile. 

Louis insisted on paying, and the train slowly came to a stop as they made their way back to their seats. As Harry sat down, he glanced out the window. The snow was coming down, thick and heavy, and the sun had almost completely set.

“So, where are you from, Hagrid?”

Harry glared at Louis. “Hagrid?!”

Louis stifled a smile, shrugging. Harry sighed.

“I’m from Cheshire.”

“What were you doing up in Newcastle?”

“My auntie and cousins live up there. I get up there to see them when I can, but it’s just so far.”

“Mm.” Louis nodded in agreement. 

Harry sipped at his latte, enjoying the warmth through his body. The train was a comfortable temperature, but just watching the snow sent a chill through him.

_ “Ladies and gentlemen, we apologise for the delay, we’re currently experiencing minor technical difficulties.  We’ll be on our way soon.” _

“Fuck,” Harry murmured.

“If this is the bloody snow’s fault…” Louis huffed. 

“What?” Harry grinned. “You gonna beat the snow up?”

Louis glared at him, unimpressed. He slipped his trainers off and propped his feet on his little tray table.

“Louis, that’s disgusting.”

“My feet aren’t dirty and if they don’t clean these tables after every journey, it’s Virgin Trains who are disgusting, not me.”

Louis lay his head back on his seat, closing his eyes. Harry took the opportunity to look at Louis,  _ properly _ look at him, while Louis couldn’t see him.

His eyelashes were slightly fluttering under the overhead light, his lips parting, and the very tip of his tongue darted out to lick over them. Harry was mesmerised as Louis started to chew slightly on his bottom lip.

All at once, Louis sighed, opening his eyes and turning his head slightly to look at Harry, starting a bit when he noticed Harry staring at him. On top of that, Harry only now realised he’d moved closer to Louis.  _ Shit. _

“Um-” Harry said, feeling slightly panicked. “Do you know any restaurants in London that do really good turkey burgers?”

Louis frowned, the ghost of a grin on his face.  _ He knew. _ He knew Harry had been ogling him and he knew Harry didn’t give a shit about turkey burgers.

“No.”

“Oh, alright.”

“Plenty of recommendations for beef burgers, though.” Louis beamed, sliding his fingers onto Harry’s forearm.

Harry inhaled sharply, feeling a spark shoot through his veins and as Louis squeezed his arm, he looked up at Louis and could tell from the fire in his eyes that he’d felt it too. Louis took a deep breath, shifting closer to Harry, and-

They were plunged into darkness. The lights cut out through the whole carriage, dim emergency lights the only illumination. Harry could see Louis moving in shadow.

“For fuck’s sake!” Louis growled quietly. “This cannot be happening.”

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of the dark, Louis,” Harry said with amusement. It was completely dark outside now; it had stopped snowing but the field Harry was looking out at was a blanket of white, looking blue and dull as the moon hid behind a cloud.

“Don’t be silly,” Louis replied, pulling up the armrest between them and tucking it between the backs of their seats. He shifted himself round, bringing his knees up and pushing his socked toes under Harry’s left thigh. “I’m glad we made friends, Hank.”

“Me too,” Harry said, slipping his fingers around Louis’ calf, hearing Louis’ breath catch. “Starting to get cold in here already.”

“Maybe we should… share body heat.”

“You think so?”

Louis lifted his feet and placed them on Harry’s right thigh, shifting in closer. Harry could feel Louis’ bum against his left thigh and he swallowed as he could hear Louis breathing. He could barely see Louis’ hand as he moved towards him, snaking around his neck and pushing into his hair. Harry surged forwards and met Louis’ lips with a firm bump, their mouths both messily moving against each other before they slowed, meeting each other in rhythm.

Harry’s hand found its way into the leg of Louis’ joggers, gliding over the hair on his shin, slipping up past his knee and grazing his thigh. 

“You’ve got a lovely mouth, Harry,” Louis said, mumbling quietly against Harry’s lips. 

“Did you just call me Harry?” he whispered, grinning.

“It’s your bloody name, isn’t it?”

“God, you’re insufferable,” Harry scoffed, moving in tongue first to kiss him again. Harry’s extremities were starting to get cold; his fingers and toes were turning to ice, but his chest felt flushed, his crotch very warm indeed, and Louis’ hot breath was on his mouth and face.

Harry heard the relieved sigh ripple through the carriage before he realised all the lights had come back on; he opened his eyes and saw Louis pulling away, grinning wickedly as he sat back in his own seat, laying his legs tidily next to Harry’s and folding his hands in his lap. Harry felt his cheeks burn red, trying not to stare at the slight bulge in Louis’ joggers and using his arm to block his own from view.

They sat in silence as the train slowly started to move, both trying not to grin. After a few moments, Louis sighed, slowly sliding his hand onto Harry’s thigh, pushing his fingers to the inside of his leg and squeezing.

-

The next hour was spent flirting with gentle touches and teasing, and the both of them mutually decided to eat their packaged sandwiches at quarter past six. 

“I’m still hungry,” Louis whined. “You fancy going for a bit of dinner when we get into King’s Cross?”

“Oh,” Harry sighed regretfully. “I’d love to, but I have to get back. It’s my flatmate’s birthday.”

“Oh, okay. That’s alright.” Louis smiled sadly. “I’d have only tried to charm you into coming back to mine, anyway.”

A whine bubbled at the back of Harry’s throat, frowning in annoyance.

“Well, hey… you wanna come to a party?”

“I’m in joggers and a beanie, Harvey.”

“It’s not exactly a black tie affair, Louis. It’s just in my flat.”

Louis chewed on his bottom lip. “Yeah, okay then, if you think it’s alright.”

“Good.” Harry nodded, satisfied. He dropped his palm to Louis’ thigh, moving close to speak in his ear. “Looks like  _ I _ charmed  _ you _ into coming back to my place, hm?”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, [Count Duckula](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=count+duckula) is a real thing ;)
> 
> If you enjoyed this, please [reblog the Tumblr post](https://catfishau.tumblr.com/post/171882908201/dinosaursmate-ketchup-by-dinosaursmate)! Thanks. Comments and kudos make my day!


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